Architect Manit Rastogi, Morphogenesis

"Excellence in design is achieved through constant innovation by a continuous process of design appraisal of our own work. ...we see the design of buildings as the result of different stimuli, ranging from climatic conditions, surrounding urban fabric, local traditions, and user activity."Ar. Manit Rastogi

Morphogenesis is recognized as one of the leading Architecture firms in India. Founded in 1996, by Ar. Manit Rastogi & Ar. Sonali Rastogi, the firm is based out of New Delhi and specialized in offering services in Architecture, Interior design, Masterplanning, Urban design, Landscape design, and Environmental design consultancy.

Graduated from the School of Planning and Architecture (New Delhi) and the Architectural Association (London) with Honours (Diploma school) and Distinction (Graduate school) in Energy and Environmental Studies, Ar. Manit, the Founder and Managing Partner of Morphogenesis, is a big lover of nature and advocate of sustainable built environment.

Manit is a Fellow of IIA (Indian Institute of Architects) and the RSA (Royal Society of Arts, UK) and has taught at the Architectural Association, London, School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi and the Hong Kong Polytechnic Institute. He has been a juror on several design and award juries and is a founder member of Association for Development and Research of Sustainable Habitats (ADaRSH). As a member of the Technical Advisory Committee of GRIHA, India's own Green rating system, and as member, Resource Persons Group on Environment and Ecology- Lt. Governor's Secretariat, New Delhi, Manit works with urban policymakers to spearhead initiatives with an emphasis on environmental sensibility and social welfare.

Since his childhood, he has been fascinated by nature's design which can be seen in his works at Morphogenesis where creativity is inspired by the evolutionary processes in nature to create form which is optimized for the built environment and the community.

Apprising about his working principles Ar. Rastogi says, "At Morphogenesis, we have three main guiding principles in the way we work, aimed at delivering the best to all our clients. We are charged with a pursuit of excellence in design, through a methodology of professional rigour, informed by a belief in sustainability. Clients and their team are an important part of the design process and we believe that a great design emerges only through an exchange of ideas."

Ar. Rastogi believes that design should be the combined result of multiple inspirations. His firm's wide range of interests and inspirations have ensured the built-up of a highly-sensitive portfolio. The team at Morphogenesis views design as a mighty amalgamation of a multitude of external and internal influences, which includes climatic conditions and even local traditions.

Giving his views on innovation in architecture, he says that it is a symbiotic balance between sustainability, affordability, imageabilty, and livability.

Advocating for Environment-friendly building construction technique, he says, "At Morphogenesis, our belief in sustainability shapes all our projects. It is not treated as a layer of applied technology on building systems but forms the very basis of our design. Our endeavor is to design in a manner that reduces consumption of resources and energy. We are committed to principles of passive design and believe that thorough analysis can simulate and predict performance of all buildings."

Morphogenesis aims at achieving sustainable solutions using passive techniques of cooling such as thermal buffers, evaporative cooling, ventilation strategies, water reservoirs, optimizing the surface area to volume ratios and exploiting the building orientation to achieve thermal comfort in all kinds of climatic conditions.

Sustainable buildings are designed to achieve thermal comfort by reinterpreting and adapting traditional elements and techniques and reducing dependence on mechanical methods of cooling. At Morphogenesis, sustainability is a core creative value and is practiced in the evolution of the design. Ar. Rastogi adds, "Through most of our projects we have successfully dispelled the myth of high cost being an intrinsic part of Sustainable Building Design. At Morphogenesis today, we have become architectural activists in an attempt to affect change in our cities, in the buildings we dwell and ultimately, the lifestyles we adopt. The opportunity is immense, the opportunity to define a new emergent architecture – An Architecture of almost somewhere, for a people, for a people of almost somewhere."

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